Capistrano Unified approves 32 layoffs

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Capistrano Unified School District trustees on Wednesday approved laying off 32 nonteaching staffers as they await word on the state budget.

The trustees also voted to eliminate 29 vacant positions. The hardest hit will be teachers' aides. Managers and teachers so far have avoided layoffs this year.

Ten bilingual workers who assist teachers and help communicate with students' families will receive pink slips.

Their salaries are funded with Economic Impact Aid, a state program designed to assist students whose first language is not English.

It is one of dozens of "categorical" funds, money legally restricted to specific uses. In January, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed eliminating categorical programs to give local school districts more control over how the money is spent.

Called the Local Control Funding Formula, the proposal is part of a larger effort by Brown to redo the way the state allocates funding. It would direct more money to districts with low-income children, a change some school districts in affluent areas oppose.

"Once we have certainty which comes with the state budget adoption we can determine if the position(s) need to be eliminated or not, but until then, we must take this approach," Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Services Jodee Brentlinger wrote in an email.

Otherwise, she said, the district's general fund – which faces a big deficit next year – would have to absorb the costs.

The employees will be laid off at the end of the school year and must receive written notice 60 days ahead of time, according to state law.

Those being laid off are classified workers represented by the California Schools Employees Association.

Its local chapter at Capistrano Unified represents about 1,300 people who agreed to more than $7 million in concessions, mostly from furlough days, when the district adopted this year's budget.

The district estimates it has slashed spending by $150 million since the 2007-08 school year. It has laid off classified employees every year since to help balance the budget, Brentlinger said.

"This will be the first year since 2007 the district will not be recommending classified layoffs for budget-reduction purposes. Positions to be eliminated are due to the lack of certainty with existing categorical funding sources," a staff report states.

The district's latest financial forecast shows an additional $20 million will have to be cut in 2013-14, but that could change when the governor releases a revised budget proposal in mid-May.

The workers will be notified Monday, Brentlinger said. Until then, the affected schools will not be disclosed, she said.